The present invention relates to a vehicular slope apparatus that is housed in a vehicle, and extended away from the vehicle during use to form a slope between the floor of the vehicle and the ground. The invention is particularly effective for preventing a situation in which the slope apparatus is used in an insufficiently extended state.
A vehicular slope apparatus may include a plurality of slope sections that can be folded (folding slope apparatus) or slidingly moved (sliding slope apparatus) so that the slope apparatus can be housed inside the vehicle when the slope apparatus is not used.
The folding slope apparatus has an almost constant slope angle since the folding slope apparatus has a constant total length in an extended state. However, when the ground is not flat, and the height of the end of the slope apparatus from the ground changes to a large extent with respect to the height of the vehicle from the ground, the end of the slope apparatus may not come in contact with the ground, or the slope may be bent upward or downward to some extent.
The sliding slope apparatus can be used (i.e., a wheelchair can be loaded and unloaded) in a normal state in which the slope section is extended to a maximum extent (see FIG. 6A), and can also be used in a state in which the slope section is received within another slope section, and comes in contact with the ground (see FIG. 6B). In the latter case, however, it may be difficult to handle the wheelchair due to the steepness of the slope.
Specifically, since the slope angle θ(b) is larger than the slope angle θ(a) in a normally extended state, it may be difficult to load and unload the wheelchair.
In recent years, a slope apparatus that has a reduced height in an upright state from the viewpoint of rearward visibility, and also has a reduced slope angle in an extended state has been desired. This may make it necessary to further divide the sliding slope apparatus into a plurality of slope sections.
In this case, the difference between the slope angle θ(b) and the slope angle θ(a) further increases.
The inventor of the invention conducted extensive studies in order to prevent loading of a wheelchair when a sliding slope apparatus is not sufficiently extended.
A sliding slope apparatus is normally configured so that the base end of a first slope is rotatably connected to a vehicle, and a second slope section (and third slope section) is slidingly extended. Therefore, the inventor focused on the fact that the center of gravity of the slope section moves away from the vehicle when the second slope is extended.
JP-A-2006-137320 discloses a torsion bar that produces a biasing force in the housing direction in order to prevent rapid rotation when extending the slope apparatus and reduce the operation force required to house the slope apparatus in the vehicle.
However, the torsion bar disclosed in JP-A-2006-137320 merely assists rotation in the housing direction so that the front slope plate and the rear slope plate are housed to overlap.
JP-A-2004-224086 discloses technology that provides the tailgate with an assistance mechanism that assists a closing force applied to the tailgate and the slope member when folding and housing the slope member inside the vehicle.
However, the technology disclosed in JP-A-2004-224086 merely prevents rapid rotation of the tailgate, and reduces the manual operation force required when closing the tailgate. Specifically, the technology disclosed in JP-A-2004-224086 does not prevent a situation in which the slide slope is insufficiently extended.